10 Best Alternatives to the iTunes Store

The iTunes Store changed how we buy music, but it's not the only option. We look at how nine other MP3 stores stack up to discover if anything can actually replace it.

Buying music has always involved tough decisions. Rolling Stones or Beatles? CD or LP? The mall or the indie record store with the cute cashier? These questions have plagued music fans for decades, but the iTunes Store changed everything. Thanks to its convenience, huge catalog, and iPod-friendliness, iTunes now sells more music in the United States than any other retailer, either online or brick-and-mortar. But choices remain. iTunes competitors have sprung up all over the Internet, clamoring for your dollars.

Some compete directly with the iTunes megastore model, while others cater to customers with specific tastes. Each sells high-quality MP3 files that play on Macs and iPods, but they supply them in different bit rates (a measure of data that helps determine sound quality) and from catalogs of varying sizes. We’ve compared nine top iTunes competitors to see which most deserve your time and money. After all, freedom of choice is music to a Mac user’s ears.

Rhapsody MP3

Baffled buyer beware: It's hard to find what you're looking for.

Prices, check. Selection, check. Searching...not so much.

From search results that can’t be sorted to a design that dribbles albums and track names across endless pages dotted with tiny cover art, the Rhapsody MP3 store (mp3.rhapsody.com) seems designed to frustrate. But the selection is good--if you can find what you’re looking for--and prices aren’t bad. Rhapsody offers over 6 million songs in 256kbps (kilobits per second) DRM-free MP3 format for $0.99 or $1.29 each. Most albums start at $9.99 and may be as much as $2 cheaper than the same offerings in iTunes.

Unlike iTunes, downloaded music is bundled in ZIP files thanks to lack of a Mac-native download manager, and you’ll have to do fair amount of digging around if you want to buy a gift card. Rhapsody’s full-length previews are great for trying those songs before you buy, but you get only 25 previews each month without paying up to $12.99 monthly for Rhapsody Unlimited, a plan that lets you stream the store’s entire catalog. Considering Rhapsody’s limitations, we have a plan of our own: We’ll pass.

Walmart MP3 Music Downloads

Predictably low prices on a predictably mainstream selection.

Walmart's store is small and thoughtfully laid out, but you'll spend too much time in the checkout line.

Walmart is all about cheap stuff, so the low prices at its MP3 Music Downloads store (mp3.walmart.com) come as no surprise. DRM-free MP3s (most encoded at 256kpbs, some at 192kbps) cost $0.64, $0.94, or $1.24 each, and most albums start at $8.99. You can even browse all tracks at a specific price, a nice touch that iTunes should consider. Just don’t plan to hunt Walmart’s 2 million–strong catalog for obscure tunes or unusual genres--it has the latest hits, standard classics, and little else. (Fans of the well-represented country and gospel genres will fare better, though.)

Shopping is a pleasure, thanks to a clear, uncluttered layout filled with eye-catching album art. The sub-site Soundcheck offers exclusive EPs and streaming video of performances by popular artists. And just like iTunes, you can email friends gift certificates, or you can upgrade songs to the full album they came from for a few extra bucks. But without a Mac OS X version of Walmart’s MP3 Music Downloads Manager, buying tracks is a chore we can’t recommend. Mac users are forced to download all songs they buy individually, even if they’re part of a complete album. Guess we’ll pick up that 60-song Sinatra boxed set someplace else.

7digital

British invasion offers low-priced MP3 and AAC files.

Decent selection plus good prices add up to 7.

The 7digital music store (us.7digital.com) has hopped the pond from England, bringing a right proper catalog of more than 6 million tracks. Most are DRM-free MP3 files encoded at 320, 256, and 192kbps, and some are similarly encoded AAC files. The store features an eclectic mix of old and new material, focusing on recent hits and the best of underground hip-hop and alternative music. However, we found the occasional odd hole in our favorite artists’ catalogs, and too many compilation albums and songs are credited to “Various Artists,” making searches frustrating.

We like 7digital’s Locker feature, which lets you easily re-download previous purchases, but we’d love to have a Mac version of the store’s Download Manager app, instead of having to muck about downloading ZIP files of our tunes. These hiccups aside, browsing and gifting songs and albums in 7digital is easy. Better still, its prices are easy on the wallet. Songs set you back $0.77 to $0.99 to $1.29 apiece--most are only $0.77. And albums cost between $4.77 and $9.99, with many costing just $7.77. If you’re a bargain hunter (and really, who isn’t?), 7digital is a bloody good show.

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There seems to be an unstated assumption that buying MP3 downloads is the only game in town for getting digital music. I guess if you're on an iTunes user it is, which is why this article is written the way it is (seeing as this is on a Mac-focused site). Streaming music on demand and taking subscription music with you are both awesome options that you can't do with iTunes. The way this articles is written it's like having a car article that says all other cars are terrible compared to the Pontiac Aztec -- because the Aztec is the only car that turns into a camper. So you focus on one feature, while ignoring everything else. Are you interested in this new Porsche? Not unless it turns into a camper!

I agree with the article's assessment that both Napster and Rhapsody are very poor competitors to iTunes if all you want to do is download MP3s. But these services best features are not MP3 downloads. MP3 downloads are a minor add on. Where they shine is in streaming tracks on demand and taking subscription music with you. You can stream most songs in their catalog whenever you want starting at $7 (Napster) and $12 (Rhapsody). With their To Go plans and a capable portable media player you can take all the music you want with you for $15/month. The MP3 downloads are just a little extra benefit. These are features that iTunes doesn't support. It also doesn't mention Zune, which has very similar capabilities and price points (but is only available for PCs).

I also like how the review of eMusic doesn't mention perhaps its biggest asset -- it's so damn cheap! Even the summary at the end just says "monthly plan," where the others have prices. Depending on the plan, eMusic's tracks end up costing 40-60 cents each. That's one third to a half the price of iTunes. Think that might be worth mentioning?

So yeah, if you want to download MP3s, nothing blows away iTunes. But if you are open to more options like on-demand streaming and taking subscription tracks with you, there are way better options for getting music than iTunes.

What do you think? Maybe I'm the one who doesn't get it. Is it me, or does this article not give other sites a fair shake?